The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a turbine engine and, more specifically, to a system to improve the operability of a fuel nozzle.
A gas turbine engine combusts a mixture of fuel and air to generate hot combustion gases, which in turn drive one or more turbine stages. In particular, the hot combustion gases force turbine blades to rotate, thereby driving a shaft to rotate one or more loads, such as an electrical generator. The gas turbine engine includes a fuel nozzle to direct fuel and air into a combustion zone. A flame develops in a combustion zone having a combustible mixture of fuel and air. Unfortunately, the flame can potentially propagate upstream from the combustion zone into the fuel nozzle, which can impact performance of the fuel nozzle due to the heat of combustion. This phenomenon is generally referred to as flashback. Likewise, the flame can sometimes develop on or near the fuel nozzle surfaces. This phenomenon is generally referred to as flame holding. For example, the flame holding may occur on or near a fuel nozzle in a low velocity region.